Building a Climate Resilient Economy and Society

Building a Climate Resilient Economy and Society

Challenges and Opportunities

Edited by K.N. Ninan, Chairperson, Centre for Economics, Environment and Society, Bangalore, India and Co-Chair, Panel on Methodological Assessment of Scenarios and Models of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, United Nations, Bonn, Germany and Makoto Inoue, Professor of Environmental Sociology, Faculty of Human Sciences, Waseda University and former Professor of Global Forest Environmental Studies, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the University of Tokyo, Japan

Climate change will have a profound impact on human and natural systems, and will also impede economic growth and sustainable development. In this book, leading experts from around the world discuss the challenges and opportunities in building a climate resilient economy and society. The chapters are organised in three sections. The first part explores vulnerability, adaptation and resilience, whilst Part II examines climate resilience-sectoral perspectives covering different sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, marine ecosystems, cities and urban infrastructure, drought prone areas, and renewable energy. In the final part, the authors look at Incentives, institutions and policy, including topics such as carbon pricing, REDD plus, climate finance, the role of institutions and communities, and climate policies. Combining a global focus with detailed case studies of a cross section of regions, countries and sectors, this book will prove to be an invaluable resource.

Over time, it is expected that climate change will have a profound impact on human and natural systems, and thereby impede future economic growth and sustainable development. In this innovative and authoritative work, leading international experts discuss the challenges and opportunities for building an economy and society that is more resilient to climate change. Building a Climate Resilient Economy and Society fulfils a long-felt need, which assumed added importance following the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015, for a comprehensive work on climate resilience.

The chapters are organised into three thematic sections. The first part explores vulnerability, adaptation and resilience, whilst Part II offers sectoral perspectives from agriculture, fisheries, marine ecosystems, cities and urban infrastructure, drought prone areas and renewable energy. In the final part, the authors examine incentives, institutions and policy, covering topics such as carbon pricing, REDD-plus, the role of institutions and communities, climate finance and policies.

Combining a global focus with detailed case studies from a cross section of regions, countries and sectors, this book will prove to be an invaluable resource for researchers, scholars and students. Written in concise, non-technical language, it will also provide a thorough reference for those in civil society or government working on climate resilience and disaster risk reduction.

‘The book provides an excellent overview of the importance, challenges and opportunities for building ecological resilience in dealing with climate change. The collection of articles is essential reading for both academics and policymakers working on the economics of climate change mitigation and adaptation.’ – Andreas Kontoleon, University of Cambridge Department of Land Economy, UK

‘Despite the significant progress made when the Paris Agreement came into force in November 2016, greenhouse gas emission mitigation will not proceed at a sufficient pace to preclude widespread climate change later in this century. Therefore, it is necessary to give more attention to the diverse means of adaptation to the climate change that will likely occur. K.N. Ninan and Makoto Inoue have assembled 17 essays that can inform scholars and policy makers alike as they come to grips with the eventual necessity to build climate resilient economies around the world.’ – Robert N. Stavins, Harvard University, US

‘This book is timely and identifies a range of options to adapt, reduce vulnerability and increase resilience to human-induced climate change for both terrestrial and marine systems. It addresses key sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, water quantity and quality, and coastal cities, and key issues such as terrestrial and marine biodiversity and small island states. It also addresses key issues associated with mitigation, including carbon pricing, economic implications of climate policies, financing at local levels, and REDD+. I would like to congratulate the editors and authors for bringing out this book which I am sure will receive wide attention.’ – From the Foreword by Sir Robert T. Watson